cloudiecat

Hmm, its been a looong time - over a year I think. I've slightly updated my Bio to mention my newer interest in the Harry Potter fandom. Its funny that I started reading the books way back in but stayed well clear  of the fandom until 6 or so months ago. There's some fabulous writing in the fandom I'm happy to say.

On the matter of writing: what with my reading and mostly lurking (sporadic postings) in a number of fandoms over the years (about 10 or so) I've often thought about trying my hand at writing fics. I never get further than thinking about it (except for one truly forget-able occasion when I tried to write a Buffy fic - so baaaad)  for the simple reason I can't come up with a decent original or, even interesting idea. I've come to the conclusion, finally, that I can't write (decent) fiction. Maybe I could be taught if I went to creative writing classes or something but I don't think so. See, I have a theory that those who can write are able to stay apart from their creation in a way those of us who can't write are unable to. I haven't explained that very well but I can illustrate my point by stating the obvious: Mary Sue's arise when you can't keep that distance - emotionally I think - from your story and most importantly, your characters.  Hence the totally forget-able and unfinished (thank god I didn't finish it and post it) Buffy story mentioned above. Its still on my hard drive but I could go and delete it now and not feel a speck of sorrow. I won't though, its a good example of utter crap and if I ever somehow do stumble on the ability to gain that necessary distance and actually produce a readable story, I'll have something with which to compare it positively.

Anyway, enough on that topic for now. I'll try and check in again before 2010 *g*
 

Gah!  Its been forever since I posted here!  I have been blogging in my travel journal under the username roaminsue but I didn't think my last entry in my primary journal had been way back in July!!    Well, just in case anyone has been checking and wondering if anything has happened to me (although my entries are usually few and far between when I think about it) I'll just pop in and say 'hi'. 

Am moving into week 7 of my 14 week trip and am almost at the end of the UK leg.  I've had a wonderful time in England and Scotland catching up with relatives and travelling around the countryside - its been fantastic.  Am off to Paris on Wednesday where we start and short and sweet Europe leg - a very truncated leg as it only takes in France, Italy and Spain (only 2 days in Sapin at that).  Then on to Egypt for 6 days and finally 5 weeks in the US before going home.  Am virtually halfway through the trip - can't believe how much time has passed. 

Guess what I'm missing most?  Access to my broadband where I can read as much fanfic as I want.  How sad am I anyway??  Actually, I've managed to sneak a few stories here and there - almost makes me feel like I'm home in a weird way.  I guess I spend more time on my comp reading fanfic thatn I realised - this trip is good for me in more ways than the obvious I think, LOL.

Anyways, gotta run

cloudiecat
aka : roaminsue

Ok, so I've recently discovered Youtube and just have to do my bit to spread the addiction 'cause its So. Much. Fun!  Its also freaky and pathetic and hilarious and a goddamn timewaster extraordinaire! But really, its got some really amazing stuff on it and I've just managed to watch the whole of Full Metal Alchemist (bar a couple of eps) over the past few days thanks to the kind (evil) souls who have posted vids of the series.  It was such a blast - I absolutely loved it. Its definitely my favourite anime, not that I've seen heaps or anything but seriously, its an amazing story with wonderful characters.  Also,  it has revived my on again/off again interest in anime so thats another plus for the show.  And I'm looking into the situation with regards to FMA fanfic right now as there is lots of slashy potential which I belive fanfic wruters have picked up on and run with *g*

Seriously, run off and get addicted to Youtube and Full Metal Alchemist right now.  And don't complain to me when you find you're spending hours and hours looking at all sorts of crazy shit - just enjoy. And then get it out of your system. Good luck:)

Here's the addy for those who dare *cackles evilly*

http://www.youtube.com/

Just checking out the site of The Panics, one of my fave bands, and saw they had some mp3's available. Couldn't resist sharing the sheer bliss that these guys can evoke - particularly when one of my favourite songs 'Twin Sisters' is on offer. Go. Listen. And thank me later:)

Ummm, hope the link thing works ...

http://www.thepanics.com.au/disc.htm

Ok, I'm thinking about starting another LJ so that I can write about my travel experiences (only 6 weeks before I fly out) and so my family and friends can read about them too if they wish.
Despite the fact that this poor neglected lj doesn't see much of me it does serve as a bit of an outlet for my likes/dislikes. A few RL friends do have access (Hi Reb! - ok, that's just the one then:) but I wouldn't feel comfortable giving most of my RL a window - however brief and murky it may be - into my online antics (very tame really *sigh*). So, I think another lj is the way to go.
And it won't be on Myspace which is just too fishbowl-like for my comfort. Myspace probably appeals to the extroverts among us (counting their friends) whereas I just want a little place to interact with others with similar interests and a soapbox on which to stand (or sit) from time to time. Oh, and a place to record my travel experiences:-) Will double post any travel entries over here too as it'll probably be the most I've written since I've had an lj.

I've got a ratfest of a cold - the whole works (which I won't go in to you'll be happy to know). I've been better today so hopefully its on its last legs.

Will pay for my plane ticket tomorrow *squeeee* Will have to start seriously planning the details of our trip like what exactly do I want to do during the 5 days I have in Egypt? My sister (and fellow traveller) has ideas for Tokyo so I'll leave that to her. And the rest? Well, I'm too buggered to think about it tonight actuaslly (I'm ill remember?) so I have another good excuse for putting the research and planning part of the trip off. Next time i post I'll have more of the trip sorted ... promise :-)

Ooh, and its Reb's Birthday today - I'd sing the b'day song for her but I have a sneaking suspicion that my voice doesn't sound as good as I think it does *pout*

Hope you get lots of nice pressies and no stress - although the no stress thing is probably impossible since you're organising TASCAPE this year you over-achiever you! Anyway, have a good one Reb and bummer about missing the gigs - especially The Whitlams. Have fun and say 'hi' to Carolyn :-)

Sue

Heh, I've just named my lj after all this time and no, today is not the day that I begin to get into the whole 'express myself via my lj' thing - or, well, maybe just a little bit ...

I'm planning an around-the-world trip later this year and the US will be one of my destinations. Of course I couldn't even contemplate a trip like this if it wasn't for the long service leave available to those of us who work in public service (local, state & federal govt jobs). LSL kicks in after 10 years of service and my day has come!! I've probably been lucky enough to squeeze in under the wire as I suspect this benefit won't be around much longer thanks to our PM (who makes my blood boil, my heart seethe and my brain do ... nasty, crackly, rabid things). Annny-ways, I was thinking of economical ways of traveling around the US since the places I'm interested in going are spread out all over the damn country and I was thinking ... Greyhound - as in buses. Well, no longer. After having read Sarah Darmody's rather alarming tales (in her book "Ticket to Ride") of her travels around the US on the Greyhound buses I've had a change of heart and decided that train travel might be the way to go. Amtrak here I come!!! Actually, I've heard the trains are a bit of a trial as well ... but they can't be as bad as the Greyhound sounds ... they just can't.

Any advice or comments on the above will be welcomed.

Off to read more DS fic

I really wonder why I started an lj since I've barely done anything with it. That said, here I am and I do have some news re my favourite fandom - I'm talking about my enjoyment of the fic writing here rather than the shows. For example, while I love the show Farscape I don't read in that fandom. Anyways, for the last few years I've been a fairly devoted Buffyfic fangirl - jumping around from one fave pairing to the next and finally settling on Xander/Spike . Then, around April, I stumbled onto the Due South fandom and WOW, blown away was I. I was totally hooked and seduced by the wonderful fic writers and of course, the show itself with its charismatic and quirky characters.

I'd seen some DS eps back in the mid-90s but my viewing had been patchy. However, it was good enough for me to be able to slip into the stories without too much confusion, a feat that can be hard for the complete newcomer to this fandom as there are some rather confusing elements to the show - the biggest being the Ray switch. So, as a result of my new passion for DS I've discovered I can be rather fickle in my fandom love leading to my neglect of Buffy. Then again, maybe I'm being too hard on myself and this is simply the natural result when one is faced with fics of the calibre found in DS (not that writers in Buffy aren't as good), actors as hot and sweet as Callum Keith Rennie, Paul Gross and David Marciano, a show full of delightful characters and to top it all, storylines with bucketloads of subtext

So yeah, thats pretty much what I've been up to all year. I do expect to be slightly more active next year (in RL) as I'm planning an around-the-world trip in the latter part of the year - should be good, greatness even.

I've been reading a Brian Kinney/Spike (hopefully) fic over the past 6 months or so, by Chase(?) on www.buggerthis.net/ . Thought I'd pimp it as it's really got me hooked.  Brian has gone to work as PR Manager at W&H. Angel gets supicious of him and sets 'ghost' Spike on his tail to find out what he's all about. Brian is angst-ridden and suffering and he has a secret he's not aware of. Great stuff - go read!

Also loving Lazulicat's newest foray into S/X land 'Manifestations'.  Xander is a spiritual medium, a power that developed after he lost his eye. Angel and Spike need his help on a W&H case and Spike ends up staying with Xander due to ... developments. Not saying any more - go read!!!

cloudie

 

Yeah, so it's a day late but still genuine:-)

No a very happy new year for so many people though. The scale of the disaster in south Asia has been mind boggling and the response from people and countries around the world to help by giving donations and providing resources has been pretty amazing too. I just hope we can keep in mind that it's going to take a long time for the affected communities to recover from this devestation and our help will continue to be needed.

I've seen many links posted to various organisations that can deliver aid so I'm just going to add one here. I donate to Oxfam Community Aid Abroad in Australia regularly and I'm happy with the work they do. They also sy they hope to be able to use around 90% of donations to directly help in the aid efforts which is fantastic - I hope they can manage to keep to that.  Anyway, here's the link to Oxfam International which gives links to the organisations in each country.

http://www.oxfam.org/eng/

 

 

Don't know if anyone's noticed but Seige has added chapter 15 of Xanpet to the Xander Xtreme site. It's another hot, squirmy, kink-filled chapter and I'm really glad to see Seige is still working on it.

I just received a comment on a comment I made about someones story and it made me think about phrases used in fics that start me tingling. The one that I was thinking of in particular that really gets to me is "intense stare" or "looked intensly at .." or other "intense" combinations:-) The phrase just conjures up an image of such focused attention, and its gotta be sexual, on another person that it sends shivers through me, mmmm. There must be others but that's the only one I can think of at the moment and it's definitely one of my faves.

Any other phrases or words out there that hit the spot for people?

Ok, so something out there has it in for me .. and is using coffee as it's tool of retribution. After the coffee on my keyboard fiasco from the other day
I had another coffee spillage disaster at work - spilt an almost full cup all over myself (yech!!!), my chair and the floor, (but not over my work keyboard thankfully - heh) You can call me crazy, you can call me paranoind but I think the coffee is out to get me ...
Any coffee slayage tips would be greatly appreciated. And no, I can't just stop drinking it - I'm addicted to the damn stuff ... all part of it's evil plot *mutters and glares at coffee cup*

Bugger! I just spilt quarter of a cup of coffee (with sugar) over my keyboard. This is the second time I've done this and last time I had to get a new one as the keys kept sticking. Have a feeling this one is going to go the same way. And I liked it too *pouts*

I'm an Australian wondering if any other country has those incredibly annoying plastic coke/soda bottles with the bumpy bottoms? What is the point of them?? They don't sit on your fridge shelf properly 'cause of the bumpy bottom and they fall out onto the floor all the damn time and it really pisses me off! I'm seriously considering writing to Coke.

So, does anyone know why the bumpy bottoms?

Ooooh, pretty icon *points*. I just wanted to thank saifai for helping me with my first ever icon on LJ. And what a hot Xander luvin' icon it is:-)

I feel all grown up now:-)

Ok, well pretty boring renovations considering how little knowledge I have of LJ but none the less - better than that awful, bleh page they start you of with. Have beta'd my first story - well ok, chapter then - for the lovely Cindy (cleez) and am now off to offer my green but enthusiastic skills on Bloodclaim. Wish me luck:-)

Ok, sorry about that - now I see how this lj thing works. Post to your lj and you post to every lj in your community - luckily I've only joined one - you lucky things you!

I do love Spander - my fave pairing and have really enjoyed the fic I've read here. Happy to post comments now I can.

Shutting up now.

So, this is my first entry onto my lj - ummm, its a bit more confusing than I thought it would be actually and I feel like I'm missing something here. However, am determined to work it out - I'm reasonably techno-savvy - well kinda ...

Well, I'm a hige fan of Buffy, Angel and all things Joss and have been from the start, which is what has encouraged my foray into lj-land actually. There are some great Buffy/Angel lj fanfic sites out there and I'd like to be able to contribute and not just lurk (which I am sadly very good at - lurking, not contributing that is). Sooo, I wanted to be able to post comments about how wonderful some of the stuff I read is and here I am ... sorta. Like I said - still finding my way here.

Must say, not so keen on the 'keeping a blog for the sake of sating what's on my mind but maybe that will come later.

So, here it is - my first entry. Hope it works.